Weihnachtsmärchen
by Labyrinth1n3
Summary: *Will be deleted and incorporated into main story soon as of June 2012* Absolutely appalled that his beloved Jew is oblivious to his favorite Holiday traditions, Eric wants to give Kyle the best Christmas experience of his life, but Kyle is a little more than reluctant to let the Christmas spirit take a hold of him Kyman NC17
1. Prologue: Sleeping Mice and Noises

((will be deleted and incorporated into main story very soon))

* * *

Sleeping Mice and Noises on the Roof

Twas a night of the Yuletide Season and snow was delicately falling down onto the silent Colorado town as the starry night sky twinkled from up above. It was early December and… well, I can't really say that "not a creature was stirring" because a lot of people were still awake. It was less than a month till Christmas and so many adults were up thinking about how they would make their children's Christmas the best that year. 'Tis the season so they say, and I'm pretty sure that even the fucking mice were awake.

Yet more importantly, alongside those rustling mice and busy adults were our two precious boys- laughing and carrying away as they proceeded to walk home from the Winter Party that they had just attended – Eric with his present under his arm as he connected hands with his beloved redhead as they approached his house.

"God we need to get inside, I'm fucking **freezing!" **Eric quickened his step as he pulled at Kyle's hand, rushing up his slick pavement as they both hurried to the front stoop.

"We're just lucky that it started snowing _after _the fire died down." Kyle puffed, fidgeting with his _own _present as he looked down at his hand mesmerizingly, "Lord knows how horrible it would have been if it started snowing while we were still-"

"We're not done by the way." Eric cut off as he opened his front door, whisking Kyle into a tight embrace as he reached down to actually _pick him up_, "That was just round one, I'm not quite done with you yet _Liebchen_." He teased as he carried Kyle through the threshold of his house,

The redhead held onto his lover as he scoffed a fake puff of disapproval, "What the fuck do I look like Eric?" he batted at Eric's warming cheek as he brought his face in closer to growl in his ear, "Your fucking _wife_?" he lowered his head to nip at his lover's jaw line.

Chuckling to himself, Eric rolled his eyes in jest as he approached his couch, "Yet again Kyle, you're foolishly skipping ahead." He chastely kissed Kyle's forehead before setting him down onto the comfy cushions, "And you call me impatient?" he brought his hand up to Kyle's head to toyingly rustle his hair.

Batting Eric's hand out of the way to teasingly scowl up at the larger boy, Kyle puffed an unamused breath of air as he pouted, "I'm not going to be the fucking wife!"

Eric took one look at the redhead's bratty expression and subsequently let out a long and exasperated sigh, "Of course not Kyle." He walked towards his kitchen as he flicked on the light, "You'll just be the nagging, sour, humorless one of the pair." He playfully berated his bitchy Jew lying down in the other room.

"Hmph." Kyle harrumphed, looking away from the kitchen door to discretely gaze at the ring now present on his finger, feeling an uncharacteristic wave of glee overtake him as he childishly muttered, "_I now pronounce you husband and husband."_

"Kyle you're acting like a girl who just got fucking proposed to at her best friend's wedding." Eric suddenly called out, apparently having heard Kyle's little utterance. Shaking his head in bemusement Eric brought out two glasses from the dish cabinet before teasing, "I mean, what you are going to do now? Mass text all your friends saying 'EEEEK ERIC GAVE ME A RING!'" he intentionally squealed in a high pitch voice before laughing at how funny that would be to hear Kyle actually say that.

"What?" Kyle screwed up his face in amusement before turning himself around on the couch to gaze into the kitchen, "You're not excited?"

"Well they…" Eric looked to his own ring, smiling a faint smile before closing his eyes in a knowing manner, "don't necessarily have to be 'engagement rings'…" he teased as he shot Kyle a loving little smirk as he walked across the entrance of the foyer on his way over to the fridge.

"Oh come on Eric, what else would they be?" Kyle argued as he fidgeted in the couch, reaching over to the blanket to cover himself as he kicked off his shoes.

"Alright fine, they're engagement rings." Eric gave in, feeling a warm rush flood his body as he opened the fridge to gaze at what his mom bought home from the grocery store today, "Go mass text your friends and have your mom start looking at Wedding gowns." He continued to tease while tapping his ringed finger against the handle as he indecisively perused through what he wanted to bring out.

However his statement unknowingly caused Kyle's previous gathered excitement to wan as the redhead reflected on his situation at home. Sinking further into the sofa, Kyle huddled closer to himself as he groaned, "my mother's the last person I'd be telling…"

Looking up over the fridge, Eric's expression turned ghastly as he realized that bringing Kyle's mother into this was probably not the best idea, "Oh, yeah…well," he needed to change the subject and quick, so he looked back into the fridge and called out cheerfully, "What do you want to drink! We have water, juice, soda, and…" Eric's eyes became larger and full of jollity as he focused in on a stately half gallon bottle tucked away in the back, "FUCK YEAH!"

After hearing Eric's exclamation, Kyle's broodiness faded away instantaneously as he looked back to inquire, "What?"

"Mom got the Eggnog!" Eric cheered as he brought it out of the hiding space, almost slamming it onto the counter as he impatiently brought over the two glasses as he laughed enthusiastically, "I love this shit!"

"Ugh…" Kyle face-palmed as he aggravatingly rested his head against the side of the couch, "It's really getting near that time of year isn't it… Water."

"You just came from a Holiday Party Kyle!" Eric combated, delicately pouring Eggnog in his glass before going over to the faucet to pour Kyle his water as he quipped, "Of course it's that time of year!"

Looking back towards the kitchen, Kyle watched as Eric finally came back into the room with the two glasses in his hands, "…what does that stuff taste like anyway?" he reached out to grab his glass of water.

Handing the clear glass over to Kyle, Eric perked his brow in confusion as he questioned in disbelief, "…you've never had Eggnog?"

Giving off a puff of amusement, Kyle shook his head sassily as he berated to his boyfriend standing across from him, "No, why would I have?"

Almost spitting out his precious Eggnog in shock, Eric came to the startling realization that Kyle was in fact a fucking Christmas virgin, "**God that's right**!" he brought up his sleeve to wipe away at his mouth before exclaiming, "You've never really had your own Christmas before haven't you?" he plopped down next to Kyle as he gazed at him in bewilderment.

Kyle just shrugged his shoulders in a non-phased manner as he responded, "I've gone over Stan's house a couple times during the season."

"That doesn't count." Eric muttered as he downed a heavy gulp of his Holiday poison; setting the glass down onto the table before he continued to spiel, "That wasn't your_ own_ Christmas; that was the Marshes' Christmas." Turning around to point at Kyle's confused expression; Eric kept direct eye contact as he punctuated, "_You_, Kyle Broflovski, have never had your own Christmas, right?"

Backing away from Eric's outstretched finger, Kyle clutched onto his glass of water as nervously scooted away from the larger boy, "No, I haven't… what are you trying to get at?" he pushed Eric away teasingly with his socked foot.

"Oh my god Kyle." Eric exclaimed as he picked up the rogue foot as he boldly leaned in closer to his hunched down lover, "I am _totally_ going to bring you Christmas this year." He narrowed his eyes deviously.

"PSSSSHHHH, dear fuck Eric what do I look like." Kyle teased as he set down his glass before bringing his face up meet with Eric's devilish expression. Carrying his hand up to stroke the larger boy's brown locks, Kyle spoke against Eric's warm lips as he chided, "A third-world-country orphan? I don't _need_ Christmas." He closed his eyes as he leaned in to give his brunette an igniting kiss.

However that lone phrase sent Eric into a frenzy as he hurriedly shoved Kyle away from him while exclaiming, "FUCK THAT!" he yelled into Kyle's bewildered expression, his own eyes flared in absolute astonishment, "EVERYONE NEEDS CHRISTMAS!" he proclaimed, hurriedly getting up off of the couch as he started to pace the room anxiously, "No wonder you act like you have a 39 and a half foot pole jammed up your ass all the time!"

Screwing his face up in offense, Kyle eyed the larger boy incredulously as he puffed angrily, "_Excuse me_?"

"Kyle you don't understand!" Eric replied, initially not knowing how he should handle this situation as he started to concoct answers and plans in his head, "There's no way you could though," he threw his hands to his sides as he realized that it wasn't his Jew's fault that he was so ignorant about this special time of year. Turning around to wave a lecturing finger at his enraged looking lover, Eric resumed his rant as he announced, "But I can tell you without a doubt that Christmas is BOSS!" he tried to convey his enthusiasm with a sudden shout-

-but was only met with a cold stone expression as his Jew continued to stare up at him with unmoving eyes.

Exhaling disappointingly, Eric tried to think of another way to convince Kyle as he brought up a hand to scratch at his head while gazing at the floor, "It has _always _been my number one thing EVER." Puffing a reluctant laugh, Eric sheepishly gazed back at his Jew as he admitted, "Like, there was a point in time in my life where I would have heiled Santa before _Hitler_."

"Oh my god Eric you did not just say that…" Kyle carried his head to his hands as he shook his head in absolute disgust.

"But it's true!" Eric tried to win Kyle back as he rushed to his knees to kneel next to Kyle; taking one of his precious redhead's hands into his own as he preached lovingly, "And now that _you're _my number one thing ever, I'm going to give you what your parents have been robbing of ever since you were BORN." He clenched onto Kyle's hand even tighter, silently pleading his Jew to give him a chance as he stared him down with his autumn wisps.

Finally looking up exasperatingly, Kyle groggily shifted his eyes over to his overly enthused lover crouched down next to him. Seeing those magnificent eyes of his, Kyle tempered his rage significantly, but still smirked in dissatisfaction as he tried to reason, "That's really unnecessary Eric, I mean, I know your intentions are good but I'm really not interes-"

"FUCK THAT!" Eric suddenly exclaimed as he threw Kyle's hand back at him in exasperation, getting up to stomp away from his reluctant lover as he shouted, "No fiancé of mine is going to go Christmas-less the rest of his life!" he grabbed his mug to storm back into the kitchen to refill it.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kyle yelled back, already sick of arguing as he signed restlessly, "I thought that me being Jewish wasn't going to be a problem anymore…" he cringed at the end of that sentence as he sat up straight on the couch; glaring into the kitchen as he waited for an answer.

After a couple moments of bustling around the kitchen, Eric finally replied when he was restocked with more of his precious Eggnog, "Kyle it has nothing to do with Religion." He reasoned, entering the room again as he peered down at his inquisitive looking Jew, "I mean, do you think I love Christmas because I have to go to Church every Sunday of Advent? Hell no, it has nothing to do with it!" he sat back down next to Kyle after he took another swig of his drink. Setting his mug back down, Eric glanced over at Kyle as he impatiently listed, "I'm talking about Christmas decorations, Christmas cookies, Christmas Markets, and best of all…" he smirked knowingly, pausing intentionally as he delicately fingered the rim of his cup.

"Hm?" Kyle hummed curiously as he deviously watched Eric play with his mug.

Bringing his Eggnog back up to his lips, Eric's smile brightened up as he finished, "_Christmas morning_." before gulping another helping of his drink.

Kyle's eyes suddenly widened as he reflected on that particular event. A Christmas morning; everything else Eric listed didn't really matter to him – it was all too commercialized and more than likely overrated… but a Christmas morning? Kyle remembered when he was a kid how much he wanted one… running down the steps to see the whole foyer filled with presents just waiting for him to open. He used to dream about all the different kinds of sweets and toys for him to enjoy for the whole day which practically never ended. God he remembered how jealous he used to get, and how ridiculous it all seemed now… but still, a part of him… _really _wanted it for his own."You're ridiculous." He combated defensively, closing his eyes to hide his want while sipping his glass of water to ease his nerves.

"Trust me Kyle," Eric spoke out, running his hand up Kyle's leg before patting his Jew's thigh, "you'll be thanking me by New Years." He gripped Kyle's leg longingly as he eyed him suggestively.

"Whatever you say." Kyle replied off-handedly as he placed his glass back onto the table, passively sliding his hand down to place it on top of Eric's.

"Hey. Trust me okay?" Eric begged as he quickly changed his mischievous demeanor, genuine in his actions as he started to soothingly rub Kyle's thigh with his Jew's hand still placed on top of his, "I really want to do this for you! And it's not like I'm not asking for anything in return..." he reasoned, prodding his Jew even further in his desperation to get a positive response.

"Is that so?" Kyle perked up in curiosity, suddenly acting quite naughty himself as he boldly moved Eric's hand closer to his groin.

Feeling a jolt of electricity shoot up from his waist, Eric grinned maliciously as he hastily rolled around to hover on top of his sneaky little redhead as he joked, "Well… I mean, if at any point you want to come and sit on my lap and ask me what you want for Christmas, I'll be sure to give you a complimentary _candy cane."_ He thrusted impatiently.

Kyle shoved Eric off of him in one quick push as he grumbled in annoyance, "I'm going to bed."

"Ay!" Eric cried out in frustration, watching as Kyle started to ascend his stairs as he whined, "Didn't you want to try some Eggnog?"

Down but not out, Kyle quirked a suggestive eyebrow as he glared down at his sprawled out lover still on the couch, "Well… as long as you don't use any more of those stupid-ass Christmas euphemisms," he narrowed his eyes sensually as he hummed; "you can give me your own special _blend _of Eggnog upstairs."

Flashing his eyes open in excitement, Eric instantly got off the couch as he rushed up to follow his Jew "Look whose using euphemisms now..."

"_Come upstairs and I'll suck your dick_; how's that?" Kyle sassily called out from the upstairs hallway.

"…I liked the eggnog bit more." Eric grumbled before they both shut themselves inside his bedroom.


	2. A Disgruntled Boy and the Meaning of Xma

A Disgruntled Boy and the Meaning of Christmas (Bickering with a side of Fluff)

Coming from his last final, Kyle actually felt pretty good about this past semester as a whole. Despite all the "extracurricular" activities that he found himself doing, he was almost positive that yet again his report card would show the straight A's that he continually scores year round. He was just that good – he could tame Eric Cartman, train as an assassin, get blown up, get kidnapped _twice_but somehow maintain his 4.0 grade average all at the same time.

Swinging his locker open, Kyle peered over to his small mirror stuck to the door and vainly blew himself a kiss. _No one is as hard core as I am. __**No one.**_

But just as he was about to tussle his hair in his own sassy manner, his locker was suddenly slammed shut while he was still staring at himself admirably -inadvertently causing him to gaze seductively into Kenny's eyes for all of two seconds before they both reeled back in shock.

Blushing profusely, Kyle collected himself accordingly before rushing open back up his locker, "Jesus Christ Kenny! You know how much that pisses me off when you do that!"

"I would pay, 100 dollars, EVERYDAY, if I could wake up, with you staring at me like that." Kenny directly annunciated as he adjusted his pants to hide his arousal.

Kyle just puffed an amused laugh as he finished cleaning out his locker, "Oh Ken…" he sighed, peering sideways with his fiery malachite eyes as he maliciously teased, "You and I both know you can't afford my services. Hm… wie traurig…" he rolled off poisonously as he shut back his locker, sauntering away from Kenny as he sassily threw his bag over his shoulder.

"Dear God!" Kenny snapped, catching up with his friend as he snatched Kyle's ringed hand to inspect the platinum band in bewilderment, "What did he do? Imbrue this thing with his DNA? When did you start _acting _like him?"

"Please." Kyle snatched his hand back, chiding his fingers as he too peered down at it with an ounce of dismay, "You know as well as I do that I'm nothing like him." Swinging his head back to fix his hair again, Kyle lowered his eyelids suggestively as he glanced sideways to the blond, "His devious personality might have rubbed off on me slightly, but I know for a fact that I have maintained my own wit Thank you Very Much."

"Well excuuuse me, _Princess_," Kenny rolled his eyes, shrugging his shoulders as he ragged, "Hopefully some of your good spirit has rubbed off on _him. _Lord knows he needs it." They both entered the main lobby together.

"No… he's got spirit all right." Kyle dragged, closing his eyes in aggravation as he whined, "So much spirit that I'm practically drowning in it."

Kenny perked his brow in confusion as he unknowingly asked, "What do you me-"

"KYLE!" Eric cut him off as he suddenly entered the Lobby in a mad rush, practically bulldozing a crowd of people out of the way to reach his embarrassed-as-all-hell redhead.

Ducking behind Kenny in an attempt to shield himself from the larger boy closing in on them, Kyle muttered nervously as he crouched to the floor, "Oh god Ken help m-" but before Kyle could finish his plea, Eric already had him by the hood of his jacket, "You're coming with me."

Swatting Eric's hand away, Kyle reluctantly got to his feet as he exclaimed, "What do you mean Lardass? We're not taking the Jeep today?" he asked incredulously – Kenny slowly backing away from them to allow them more space to duke out whatever they needed to duke out.

"NOPE!" Eric happily exclaimed, tilting his head as he proudly crossed his arms, "We're walking." He closed his eyes half way, expecting Kyle to retort with some bitchy remark.

But instead Kyle just smirked with a heavily amused look on his face as he puffed, "No." he started to head for the door. "_You're _walking… crazy ass." He moved to push the door open so that he could make it to the Jeep in time.

However Eric wasn't going to let him escape so easily, therefore as Kyle was about open the door all the way, Eric caught up with him to slam it back shut while shouting, "Kyle! The tree farm is down the street from here, it will honestly take all of ten minutes to get there. Don't be a lazy fuck…"

"Look who's calling who a lazy fuc-"Kyle responded snarkily before quirking his brow in contempt as he glanced up at Eric in horror, "Tree farm?" he asked fearfully.

"We're picking out the tree today!" Eric announced in excitement, obviously more thrilled about this event than his significant other was, "It's the last day of classes and it's always the day that my mom and I pick out our tree!" he explained- his eyes sparkling in delight as though he was trying to get Kyle to reciprocate his amount of jollity.

"See!" Kyle looked back to Kenny in anger, pointing an accusatory finger towards the larger boy as he yelled, "He's been doing this to me all week!" Eric's jollity suddenly faded as he frowned in confusion.

However Kenny had no idea what Kyle was so angry about. So shoving his hands in his pockets, Kenny casually glanced towards Eric's disappointed expression as he peered back to Kyle with a discontent scowl, "Doing what?"

"Freaking showing him Christmas!" Eric exclaimed as he backed away from Kyle, crossing his arms defensively, "He's so unappreciative!" he growled before eying the redhead as though he transformed into some kind of evil Scrooge.

After hearing Eric's answer, Kenny kept his focus on Kyle as he asked nonchalantly, "Do you _want_ to celebrate Christmas this year?" he questioningly perked an eyebrow.

"NO!" Kyle exclaimed with resolute, but then, much to his dismay, remembered his extreme wanting of a Christmas Morning. Therefore, as he crossed his own arms, Kyle tempered his rage slightly as he corrected, "Well… kinda." he scowled up at Eric who regained some of his enthusiasm as he happily took Kyle's hand as he opened the door to exit the school, "Well then come on _Sassafras_! We have little daylight to work with!"

Feeling himself get dragged out of the warm lobby into the cold courtyard, Kyle felt a wave of reluctance engulf him again as he cried out, "Wait! I change my mind…**Kenny**! **Help**!" he called to his friend inside who was still watching on as the door closed, "I don't want to go to some hick tree farm to commit Spruce Genocide!"

Kenny heard that last bit and laughed a hearty laugh as he then watched Eric glance back to give him a knowing wink- ensuring him that he had Kyle's best interests at heart.

Kenny just smiled as he shook his head.

* * *

"Welcome to Hirt's Tree Farm Kyle!" Eric announced happily as he stepped foot into the first field of trees lined in perfect rows. Grasping Kyle's hand, the larger boy led the shivering redhead down the first aisle of trees as he boasted, "I know this is probably the first time you've ever been to one so, look around at all the awesome Christmas trees ready for the choosing!" he rose his hand to show off the plethora of Evergreens as though he planted them himself.

Bringing his head further into his jacket, Kyle was already growing irritated by how cold it was getting- but the name of the tree farm amused him greatly, "Hm. How appropriate." He mumbled, raising his head slightly so that his mouth wasn't shielded by his scarf so he could jab, "'Hurt's Tree Farm', like how much this practice 'hurts' the environment every yea-"

Eric slapped Kyle upside the head, interrupting his whine as he yelled, "STOP BEING A FUCKING DEBBIE DOWNER KYLE, IT'S GETTING REAL ANNOYING!" Letting go of Kyle's hand, Eric stormed down the aisle of trees as he called back, "For your information, for every tree that gets cut, _H__**i**__rt's_ Tree Farm replants a new one of the same kind." Stopping in the middle of the row, Eric spotted a potential candidate for his _own _tree as he stepped forward to inspect it, "So you can tell all your 'hippie friends' that this practice is nothing but Evergreen Darwinism – but in this case, only the best of the best are suited for natural selection." He smirked as he ducked down to further investigate the tree, knowing that Kyle would appreciate his cynicism.

Finally catching up to where Eric was prostrated, Kyle decided to take it a step further by commenting, "So the 'Aryan' trees are the ones who are actually subject to genocide, huh?"

Scoffing at Kyle's alarming comment, Eric suddenly found a gap at the bottom of his selected tree which made it unsuitable for selection. Standing back up, Eric shook his head in immense disappointment at not only the tree, but his significant other as well, "You… need to stop." He turned around to continue his search for his tree, "For once _I'm _not the one bringing that shit into this." He looked back to beckon his fiancé to follow, "Just shut up and help me pick out the nicest tree."

"I'm not going to shut up!" Kyle argued, stomping after the brunet as he bitched, "This is the one Christmas tradition that annoys the hell out of me." He tried to find a way to explain his irrational distaste of this particular Holiday event, "I mean… have you ever watched Jim Gaffigan by chance?" he decided to reference.

"Who?" Eric called out from the other side of the aisle as he continued to peruse through the pines.

"Nevermind." Kyle responded, following his lover into the thicket as he brought up his hands in an attempt to explain, "He's a comedian who has this bit in his stand up about how the practice of obtaining a 'Christmas tree' mirrors the behavior of a drunken man – and I fully agree with him."

Eric was half listening at this point as he eyed down another potential candidate, "How so." He mindlessly questioned as he inspected its branches.

"It's like… at one point, someone had to have randomly cut down a tree, which naturally belongs _outside_- but instead, he brought it _inside_ his house so that he could put lights on it, and decorate it with random crap… all for _Jesus_." He ragged, tapping his foot impatiently as he stood next to Eric who was meticulously inspecting his selection, "Who started that?" Kyle continued to instigate, throwing up his arms in a bout of rage as he raised his voice, "What sense did that make? It's almost as ridiculous as a rabbit decorating eggs all because Jesus died for everyone…"

"And if I remember correctly," Eric brought his head back out from the inside of the tree as he looked back to his Jew is annoyance, "What did Stan learn by the end of that whole escapade when you both tried to 'unravel the truth'?" he furrowed his brow in aggravation.

Kyle was about to continue his rant, but then Stan's words echoed through his head as he bit his lip apprehensively. Slamming his arms back to his sides, Kyle exhaled a long sigh as he closed his eyes in irritation, "That he shouldn't ask questions… and that he just needed to continue to dye the eggs while keeping his mouth shut." He finished with a snarl.

"Exactly." Eric readied the chainsaw lent to him by the farm, giving it a rev before snapping, "So don't ask questions, and help me cut this tree while keeping _your_ mouth shut." He lowered himself to the ground so that he could reach the tree trunk, "Pull the top of the tree towards you so that you can catch it when it falls." He instructed.

Kyle gritted his teeth as he reached out to hold the top of the tree, "…Christians." He scoffed.

Eric stopped revving the chainsaw as he heard Kyle's uncharacteristic remark, "You did not just mock me for my religion."

Smirking caustically, Kyle shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "Role reversal's a bitch."

* * *

"Damn! I didn't think it would fit through the fucking door!" Kyle exclaimed as Eric finally set the rather large tree into the holder inside the foyer, "It's like, as tall as the room!" he eyed the enormity of it, the tip barely an inch from touching the ceiling.

"That's how big they should be!" Eric grunted as he finished tightening the last screw into place, getting to his feet once he was confident enough that the tree wouldn't budge. "Could you hand me the lights…" he pointed to the box labeled 'Christmas Lights' on the ground as he fixed some of the branches that were out of place.

Walking over to open the box full of Christmas lights, Kyle suddenly realized that it was just Eric and him decorating the tree; Eric mentioned to him at school that his mother usually takes part of this activity, so where was she? Taking a bundle of multi-colored lights into his arms, Kyle glanced back at Eric and asked delicately, "Is it just us decorating this year?"

"Mom's working overtime." Eric responded as he took the first rope of lights from Kyle to plug them in, the whole line lighting up with bright colors which made decorating the dark tree a lot easier. "Christmas is a busy time of year for her…" he explained with a heavy heart, smirking a sad smile as he proceeded to weave the branches with the lights, "Lotsa lonely people…" he dragged out.

Kyle's own heart sank into the pit of his stomach as he horridly drew his own conclusion, "Oh, god. She still isn't…" he started to insinuate.

However once Eric picked up on Kyle's comment, his eyes lit up in shock as he whipped his head back to correct, "Oh, no! God no!" he laughed to himself, closing his eyes as he rubbed his forehead in embarrassment, "Kyle, she quit that a long time ago!" he opened his eyes again as he puffed in amusement, "She works with a suicide prevention group now."

Kyle's face went red as he awkwardly bit his lower lip, "Oh!" he muttered, lowering his head in shame as he quickly added, "Good! I mean, I was going to say-"

"No Kyle, my mom's not a _whore_." Eric butted in to purposely make Kyle feel a lot worse, shaking his head in disapproval as he finished the base of the tree, "Now hand me more of those lights." He diverted from the whole subject for Kyle's sake.

Kyle, who was still beet-red, appreciated the diversion whole heartedly as he quickly pulled out a new line of lights for Eric to use, "Right away!" he cheered- sheepishly handing the string to Eric as he smiled a pleasing grin.

Eric stared at Kyle through half-lidded eyes as he delicately took the line from Kyle's grasp, still shaking his head as he decided to further antagonize, "And you got _so_ upset whenever I called _your_ mother a bitch…"

After bickering about their respective mothers during the entire time the tree was being pre-decorated, Eric finally placed the last stream of lights on the top of the as he concluded their argument, "Okay Kyle, you didn't call my mother a slut, you just _insinuated it_." He teased, still loving to hear Kyle so worked up over it.

Bur Kyle was fucking done with it, "Eric for the love of god and all that is holy I did not-" he suddenly realized that the tree was completely lit and ready to be decorated. Kyle had never seen just a lit tree before, he had only seen them completed, or nearly completed.

"What Kyle," Eric egged on, noticing Kyle's silence as he started to weave the single band of fake popcorn and cranberries into the gaps the lights left, "What didn't you do…"

However Kyle did not respond, he only continued to gaze upon his first Christmas tree with awe and appreciation as he slowly uttered, "It's… pretty." He suddenly smiled, totally not expecting to feel this way as a wave of giddiness suddenly flooded his body.

After hearing Kyle's little exclamation, Eric was quite pleased with himself as he cracked a knowing little smile, "Okay then!" he announced, patting Kyle's back before walking over to another box entirely, "Time for ornaments!" He bent down to open the box filled with the trinkets and crafts which served as ornaments that his mother had collected over the course of his life, "Let's get started- heavy stuff on top, lighter stuff on the bottom."

"Hm." Kyle prodded as he turned around to sensually eye his fiancé as he walked over to retrieve some ornaments to put up, "_You wish_." He seductively alluded.

Suddenly getting the joke, Eric grinned maliciously as he closed his eyes in false irritation, "Nothing can be simple for you can it?" he argued, placing a couple of lightweight ornaments on the bottom of the tree before standing up to smack Kyle's ass, "You had to be snarky at the tree farm and now you're being even more naughty!" he walked over to the box to fetch more ornaments, "Santa's not going to bring you _anything _for Christmas this year." He warned, revving up for another argument which brought him more satisfaction than a million Christmases combined. Well… maybe two Christmases combined… actually Christmas and fights with Kyle were probably even with each other.

However Kyle was in no mood to fight, having already exhausted his efforts in the preceding battle; therefore he just calmly inhaled and responded unenthusiastically, "I'm pretty sure that me not getting any presents from Santa has nothing with me being 'naughty' and everything with me being Jewish." He commented, hanging up a little Christmas craft that he assumed Eric made when he was younger- feeling a wave of envy envelope him as he muttered, "Even when I was nice, Christmas morning was like any other morning for me."

Eric suddenly felt his argumentative edge fade into pity as he shamefully looked to the Christmas ornament in his hand. Gripping it slightly harder, he closed his eyes in aggravation as he boldly reminded, "You're the one who didn't want to get religion involved." He combated, not wanting Kyle to wallow in his Christmas angst for a second longer as he collected the last couple of Christmas ornaments, "Anyway, this year it'll be different- this year, you're going to come down those stairs and they'll be just as much presents for you under the tree as for me." he pleasantly informed.

Slowly glancing back towards the stairs, Kyle felt that giddiness once more as he imagined himself gazing upon a warm room complete with a Christmas tree, Christmas stockings, and Christmas gifts and snacks- all for him. Looking back towards Eric who was hanging up the last couple of Christmas ornaments, Kyle embarrassingly started to knot his hands as he chirped anxiously, "…really?"

Sensing that Kyle was starting to finally feel the Christmas spirit, Eric gladly glanced down to the riled looking redhead as he held the final piece to the Christmas tree in his hand, "Of course! I told you..." He looked to the top of the tree as he concluded, "I'm going to bring Christmas to you this year whether you want it or not." He gently took Kyle's hand into his own, delicately placing the star in his hand.

Smiling brightly, Kyle toyed with the golden star for a bit before finally stating, "I'm… excited about it." He glanced up at Eric in anticipation before looking back to the top branch, leaning up to place the star on top of his very own Christmas tree.

After Kyle placed the final touch on the tree, both boys took a step back from their creation as they smiled eagerly at the finished product. Knowing what usually follows after finishing a Christmas tree, Eric slowly brought his head down to Kyle's to kiss his head before asking, "Want some of your hot chocolate?"

Still looking at the tree, Kyle nuzzled against his significant other as he answered, "I'd appreciate that, thanks."

Rustling up Kyle's hair, Eric walked towards the kitchen to start working on both of their respective hot chocolates, "Now you can sit on the couch and admire our work."

Ambling over to the couch, Kyle plopped down onto it while marveling at his own personal lit up Evergreen. Yet after a couple of minutes of mindlessly staring at it, the activity started to lose its magic as Kyle whined "So now what? We just… sit here with our hot cocoa and stare at the tree?"

Walking back into the foyer with one green mug and one red mug, Eric placed the green mug in front of Kyle as he placed his own red one on the opposite side of the table, "Hm, you're welcome to." He sat down next to Kyle, slowly cupping his redhead's flustered face as he joked, "but I've got something much more luminous and green to stare into."

Puffing out a muted laugh at how ridiculous that comment was, Kyle complied by gazing into Eric's warm dark mahogany eyes, lowering them slightly before leaning in to longingly place his moist lips against his fiancé's receptive mouth.

Kissing him in front of their twinkling Christmas tree as their mugs of hot cocoa cooled off while they delved deeper into their embrace.

* * *

**German –**

Wie traurig – How depressing


	3. A Gift From an Angel and a Virgin In a S

A Gift From an Angel and a Virgin In a Stable (Prologue to the Prologue of the East Coast Arc)

Every Christmas Eve, the high school holds a last minute Christmas Bizarre which is designed to raise money for school clubs and local charities. Thankfully this Bizarre has transformed over the years into a community tradition for the whole school, which means that attendance is always high and a lot of money is raised for all the various fundraisers.

Yet despite Eric being the one who has been showing his Jew all the marvelous things about Christmas, It was actually Kyle who suggested that they visit the Christmas Bizarre that day.

"You've never been to the Christmas Bizarre Eric? That surprises me! Even I came last year." Kyle quipped as he entered the gates into the football field where the Bizarre was held.

"Meh… I never had the desire to actually go." Eric admitted, following Kyle close behind as they entered the first aisle of little shops, "I usually bought my mom's gift by now and it's not like I had the friends to go with in the first place." He puffed in amusement, knowing how pathetic that sounded but knew that Kyle would get a kick out of it anyway.

Smiling a sad smile, Kyle suddenly felt a tad mischievous as he glanced up at Eric with a teasing look to brag; "I sometimes forget how much of a loser you were before you started to date me…" he brought up his hand to vainly flip his hair.

Scoffing audibly, Eric screwed up his face in pseudo-disgust as he shoved Kyle away from him while grumbling, "Thanks _fucker_…" he stomped further down the aisle as he heard Kyle laugh from behind.

"Anytime." Kyle exclaimed, knowing what would get Eric to come back to him as he called out, "Well I don't know about you but I'm hungry, wanna go get something to eat?" he suggested, watching as Eric stopped dead in his tracks as he smirked to himself in pride.

Glancing both ways down the aisle, Eric started to walk back to Kyle as he informed, "Well I know for a fact that the Karmichaels have a booth, and if we go to them they'll probably give us some Lebkuchen for free…" he continued to look for the right booth as he passed Kyle on his way towards the second aisle of shops.

Following Eric down the second aisle as they passed by some of the other food huts, Kyle perked his brow in interest as he asked curiously, "Lebkuchen? What are they?" he finally caught up with Eric as he felt his lover's arm bring him in closer as the larger boy explained, "Icing covered gingerbread cookies, I'm almost positive that they'll have sugar free ones." He finished as soon as he spotted the little German looking hut.

"Ah! There they are." Eric let go of Kyle to rush over to the entrance, butting in front of a few people in the process. Once in front of the line, the enticed brunet began to look at the selection of cookies they had to offer as Kyle embarrassingly joined him at his side, "Idiot, you couldn't wait?" the redhead commented as a voice arose from the other side of the counter.

"JA! Es bringt mich nichts mehr auf die Palme, als Leute, die sich vordrängeln Eric!" Friedrich yelled at him from behind the counter as he handed a disgruntled woman her half dozen.

"Halt den Mund Gör! Ich bin nicht hier für dich." Eric snapped at the younger boy as he peered into the back, "Ulla! Wo bist du?" he called out, knowing that she was probably helping Anke cook.

They both could hear some rustling from the back as Ulla suddenly emerged from their little makeshift kitchen, "Oh hey guys!" she called out, rushing to the counter as she leaned in to greet her two warme Brüder**, "Long time no see!" she cheered, darting her arm out to grasp at Eric's ringed hand as she finished, "I trust that you're both well."

"Quite," Eric gripped Ulla's hand in response, smugly peering down to Kyle as he boasted, "Showing Kyle Christmas has definitely been a treat for both of us." He looked back to Ulla as he cut to the chase, "But another amazing treat would be some of those Lebkuchen that Frau Anke makes so well." Leaning down to Ulla's level, Eric looked directly into her eyes as he grinned a suggestive smirk, "Mind hooking us up?"

Letting go of Eric's hand, Ulla harrumphed as she turned on her heel to head back into the kitchen, "Yeah… _for a price_." She called back, prolonging their wait as she sneakily gathering her specially made Lebkucken for her two boys.

"I'm sure you and I can _arrange_ something…" Eric dared to call back in a seductive tone, Kyle quickly responding with a slap to the head much to the larger boy's amusement.

"You wish." Ulla laughed as she walked back up to the counter, "Here you go cheapskates." She handed Eric his pack and Kyle his own sugar free half dozen as she added, "At least spend your money on a good cause."

"Thanks Ulla, I'm sure we'll find something." Kyle responded as he started to walk away with Eric attached to his hip, the brunet turning around to shout, "Fröhliche Weinachten." Before giving his friend a parting wink as they made their way to the other shops.

Once Kyle saw Eric give Ulla that little knowing wink, he sighed loudly before snidely suggesting, "For god sakes, you guys should just fuck and get it over with. Lord knows you both want to…" he jabbed, sick of their obvious sexual tension as he stomped away from a beet red Eric.

Trying to make up for his transparency, Eric quickly pondered over how he could win Kyle back as he suddenly spoke without thinking, "Think of it this way Kyle, she might come in handy one day for that very reason." He concluded, realizing what he just implied as brought up his hand to cover his shocked expression.

Kyle nearly tripped over himself as he too realized what Eric just insinuated, "Did you just suggest what I think you just suggested?" he blushed visibly just as a mother with a screaming baby coincidentally walked past both of them as they both looked to the squirming bundle in her hands.

Awkwardly looking back to each other, Eric brought his hand up to rub the back of his head as he quickly diverted, "Nevermind… hey isn't that Kenny?" he flung his hand back down to point at their friend across from the aisle as he gathered Kyle's hand to pull him over to where the blond was standing.

"Ken!" Kenny heard a familiar voice call to him from his left as he turned his head to see who it was, seeing a very determined Eric charge towards him with a flailing Kyle in tow.

Cracking an amused grin, Kenny faced his two friends as he responded, "Hey guys! How's Kyle's first Christmas coming along?" he watched as Kyle brushed himself off while shooting Eric an annoyed look.

"Pretty good," Kyle responded in irritation, eying Eric like a hawk as he continued, "a couple bumps but all in good nature, I guess." He crossed his arms, looking at Eric quite skeptically as the larger boy quickly changed the subject. "Hey what's this booth?"

Not quite understanding why his two friends were acting so weird, Kenny confusedly looked back to the booth in question as explained, "It's the St. Jude's Booth, I was just thinking about going inside." He contemplatively shoved his hands in his coat pockets.

"Oh you mean the sick kid's booth?" Eric puffed a callous laugh, Kyle aggravatingly jabbing his side with his elbow.

"Yeah," Kenny responded dryly to his asshole friend, turning his head to continue his explanation to Kyle who would be empathetic enough to follow, "All proceeds go to children in need this season, and if you donate 10 dollars you get to make a prayer doll and hang it on their collective Christmas tree."

"Prayer doll?" Eric quirked an eyebrow incredulously as Kyle just rolled his eyes before directing his full attention back to Kenny to hear the rest.

"Yes, **Prayer Dolls**." Kenny closed his eyes in irritation as he opened them back up to speak calmly to Kyle again, "They have different craft materials inside, and you can make a doll of someone you want to pray for – a long distance family member, a friend in need, a sick person, or a person who is already dead." He turned to point at the massive tree positioned behind the tent, "You attach a prayer to the doll and at the end, a mass is held and all of the dolls are collected as their prayers are read off anonymously." He returned his hand to his pocket as he finished his spiel.

"Well that's nice," Kyle finally commented, looking over to his blond friend as he added, "I haven't really done anything generous this season yet." He brought out his ten dollar bill he brought with him.

"Yeah neither have I, that's why I was thinking that this should be who I donate to this year." Kenny too reached into his pant pocket to retrieve his fist full of change.

"Eric, do you want to go inside?" Kyle suggested, hoping that Eric actually had the heart to go through with this despite being quite cynical about the whole thing not a minute ago.

"Es ist mir egal." Eric sighed as brought out his own twenty.

"Okay then, this is where we'll go." Kyle confirmed as he handed the guy at the door his ten, Kenny going next as he dumped his change onto the counter before following Kyle down the first row of tables. Yet as soon as the guy started to count Kenny's change, Eric slipped the guy his twenty, waving his hand which signaled that he did not want anything back.

Kenny and Kyle were at their own little table working on their respective dolls with Eric not far from where they were sitting. Kenny knew immediately who he would be making his prayer doll for, but Kyle actually thought about whom in particular he should make his doll for. There were a couple of people who he knew needed his prayers: his sick aunt in Connecticut, Christophe who he ultimately owed his and Eric's life to, the members of his Synagogue who have gone through so much this fall. But as he looked to the black twine that Kenny was using, Kyle suddenly thought of another person who he then understood probably needed his prayers most of all.

Making work on his little doll, Kyle solemnly collected two midnight blue beads for eyes, black twine for his hair, jean scraps for pants, and some red cloth for his little shirt.

Kenny was already done with his doll's face by the time he spied across the table to see who Kyle was making, and lo and behold as he looked at all the little materials Kyle had gathered for his own doll, Kenny suddenly realized that they were in fact making the same person.

Kyle's long face gave this away even more than the selected material did. So with a sad smile, Kenny shook his head to call out to his friend in a bittersweet voice, "Are we doing the same person?"

Quickly looking over to Kenny's doll, Kyle noticed that his doll too had black hair and midnight blue eyes, "You're doing Stan too?" he asked, not sounding quite as amused as he resumed gluing his pants on.

"Yeah, he's pretty beat up." Kenny replied, pursing his lips as he finished his doll making, "I know a prayer can't fix everything he's done but, it's something you know?" he perked up to see Kyle still brooding over his little Stan doll, almost depressed looking as he asked gingerly, "Any reason why you decided to choose him too?"

"I've," Kyle started to concoct his answer, not wanting to sound too bent out of shape over the whole thing but certainly knowing that Kenny might be able to help him sort his feelings, "been thinking about what Henrietta told me when we talked at the Pour House." He began, adjusting one of the beads on his little Stan doll's face. "About how he was the rose that needed to be cut?" he added, looking up to see if Kenny was following. Watching his friend nod patiently, Kyle looked back down at his doll as he finished placing the other bead across from the other, "And I've been thinking that maybe I was a little harsh on him." He drooped down towards the table as he adjusted his black hair on top of its head, "I guess he had my best interests at heart, but the way he handled it… it was heartbreaking to me!" he raised his voice, peering up to his friend with hurt eyes as he gripped onto his Stan doll cathartically.

"I know Kyle," Kenny broke eye contact as he reached out to cup the hand Kyle was gripping the Stan doll with, "He still hasn't forgiven himself for it either."

Releasing the doll under Kenny's hand, Kyle allowed for Kenny to carry his hand away from the doll while folding his fingers into his palm, "It's not that I necessarily want to forgive him, it's that I want him to move on and prove to himself that he can be independent too." He looked back up to Kenny to see if he agreed, the blonde still looking away as though he was pondering his response.

However as Kenny furrowed his eyebrows in understanding, he suddenly darted Kyle a determined look as he exclaimed, "Well tell him that!" he dripped Kyle's hand slightly harder before releasing it, scooting his chair out from the table as he spoke up again, "I'm already done, but I encourage you to gather your thoughts and talk to him _very soon_." Reaching out to grab Kyle's shoulder, Kenny spoke directly into the redhead's dulling emerald eyes as he smiled, "If anyone can save him Kyle, you can."

Looking down at his partially done Stan doll, Kyle regained some of the fire in his eyes as he responded with confidence, "I won't save him," he shook his head, "That won't help him at all." However as he shot Kenny a confident smirk, he closed his eyes preemptively as he finished, "But I might consider giving him the push necessary to get him started on saving himself." He opened his eyes to finally reveal his ferocious malachite's.

Patting Kyle shoulder, Kenny gave Kyle his own confident smirk as he cheered, "Coming from you, that may just work- Good Night Kyle." His sky blue eyes twinkled ever so slightly as he turned around to hand his doll on the tree.

"Thanks Ken, Merry Christmas!" Kyle called out to his departing friend, laughing slightly as he watched Kenny turn around with an excited expression to reply for the first time, "and Merry Christmas to you too Kyle!"

Getting back to his doll, Kyle finished his last touches to the little Stan doll until all that was left was his mouth. Kyle didn't really know whether to make his doll frown or smile, it seemed like a simple decision but to Kyle - whether this doll was happy or not actually meant something significant to him. Therefore as Kyle looked to the piece of loose-leaf which he was supposed to write his brief prayer on, a wave of determination overwhelmed him to the point that as he grabbed the pen to his left, he knew very well that this prayer was not going to be brief.

No. This wasn't even going to be a prayer, and it certainly wasn't going on any _tree_. This note was going to go to one person - one person who needed to hear these words more than any other person on Earth.

Finishing his last sentence in a slow and meaningful scribble, Kyle held back a sudden wave of grief as he carefully penned in his signature at the bottom.

Looking over to the tree, Kyle hurriedly pocked the note before walking down the aisle, stopping at the tree as he gazed over all the other dolls carefully pinned to the branches. Each one holding a hope, a wish if you will, and this season was just magical enough that maybe a good portion of those dreams might come true.

Suddenly seeing Kenny's Stan doll, Kyle had the urge to carefully flip open the note to see what his friend wrote down.

"_May you find true happiness one day."_

Kyle smiled, knowing that his own wish was a little more complex than that. Hanging up his own smiling Stan doll directly next to Kenny's, Kyle closed his eyes as he bowed his head, silently communicating his own prayer as he folded his hands into one another.

"You really believe that your prayer will be answered just by wishing it?" a voice suddenly called out from behind, Eric revealing himself next to Kyle as he scoped out a place to put his own Prayer Doll.

Kyle hummed knowingly "No," he responded, gripping the note in his pocket as he smiled back up at his lover with hidden incentive, "But I've got a Plan B."

"Good." Eric half listened, placing his own prayer doll tall above the tree as he turned around to walk out of the emptying tent, "Let's go home."

Glancing sideways at the departing brunet, Kyle turned his head as he perked up from where he was standing, "I've got to stop by my house to take care of some things, is that okay?"

"Sure, I'll tell my mom to stop by." He responded, stopping when he realized that his Jew was still standing by the tree.

Kyle noticed that Eric was looking at him inquisitively, so with an upbeat voice Kyle assured, "I'll be right out, I'm not quite done." He looked to the ground in preoccupation.

"Okay, I'll be right outside." Eric responded with a sigh, changing his voice to a more impatient tone as he whined, "Don't take forever though, its fucking Christmas Eve! We've got presents to shake!"

"Okay okay, I'll be only a minute." Kyle replied, watching as Eric completely left the tent before whipping his head up to curiously glance at the doll that his lover pinned up. It was slightly out of reach, but as Kyle stood up on his toes to grasp at the little thing, he finally felt it fall into his palm as he crashed back down on his feet, finally able to really look at the doll in his hand.

It was an ugly little thing, with half a head of hair and a huge smile across its face. It had a black shirt on with what looked like a cut out of a skull glued to the front with green patched up pants. What was most curious about it though were the little feathers glued to the back of it which Kyle guessed to be wings. Finally grabbing at the note attached, Kyle unfolded it with incredible interest as he eyed down the message.

"_you told me that I needed to save you, so I hope I did. _

_please be in a better place_."

Furrowing his eyes in bewilderment, Kyle wasn't allocated much time to ponder over the note as he heard his lover call out from the front "KYLE! COME ON! The Christmas Bizarre is closing! We don't want to get locked in!"

"Coming!" Kyle quickly placed the doll back on a random branch, glancing back at the happy little angel girl on the tree one last time before running outside to join his lover.

* * *

"Okay Kyle, are you sure you don't want us to wait for you? You know you have enough meds back at my place, you really don't need anything else do you?" Eric asked as he watched Kyle open the door to step out into the cold night, staring at Kyle's undecorated house displeasingly – noticing it was the only house on the block without any sort of festive quality to it. Hanukah came and went and so did the Broflovski's decorations.

"I just need to talk to my parents real quick," Kyle answered, thinking of an excuse as he lied, "about… school. Yeah, I didn't do so well on this one final and they've been meaning to talk to me about it." He added on as he cautiously peered back to Eric, hoping that was convincing enough.

"Okay, I'll be waiting for you!" Eric unwillingly complied, but then crossed his arms as he grunted, "But don't let them kill your Christmas boner…"

Kyle just rolled his eyes as he began to close the door, quickly hearing Liane lecture from the front "Eric, do you have to talk like that on _Christmas Eve?"_

Watching as the car departed from his front lawn, Kyle broodingly looked up to his house as he scowled at it displeasingly. Not because it was undecorated, but because it reminded him about how much his father was against his relationship with Eric – even a month after he informed them of their engagement. Liane eventually got over it, thankfully, but his father still bore that judgmental stare. Kyle didn't even talk to his mother anymore; she was essentially a shell of her former self anyway. He had no idea why, but he had a feeling that she was still in denial about the whole thing.

He hated being in that house, and he couldn't remember the last night he actually stayed there.

He'd been practically living at Eric's since the Christmas party; Liane cooking him special meals and even doing his laundry for him! He even had his own set of chores there! Thinking about how much Eric's house was like his new home, Kyle suddenly had the need to return back as quickly as possible.

But he had something to do first.

Leaving his estranged house, Kyle ran down the block in a path he memorized many many years ago. Once he was nearly there, he slowed his pace as he approached the all too familiar house. 2001 Bonanza Street.

Dear Lord, it's felt like years since he'd been here.

Eying the mail box, Kyle took the note from his pocket, making sure that the side that read "Stan" was face side up before he opened the small door to reach inside, carefully placing it in the empty container.

Once his task was completed, Kyle sprinted the rest of the way back to his new home, humming a song in his head as he merrily ran down the familiar street, crossing Eric's front lawn as he opened the front door with his own key.

"…Bluten sich am Ufer leer!" he finished the song, closing the door behind him as he excitedly looked to the illuminated Christmas tree… all the presents now underneath of it in a wild array of pure awesomeness.

"Kyle," A delicate voice sounded from the couch.

Kyle whipped his head around to see Liane laying on the couch in her Christmas night robe and reading glasses, watching as she set her book down on the coffee table as she resumed, "I wanted to let you know before the big day tomorrow that Eric actually told me to sacrifice half my Christmas budget that I normally spend on him so that you could have just as much Christmas presents as he does tomorrow."

Glancing back over to the presents, a warm rush enveloped Kyle completely as he smiled brightly at the brightly colored room, "You… both really didn't need to do that." He glanced back at Liane sheepishly, seeing her own warm smile as she slowly got up off the couch.

"Nonsense," Liane replied, walking over to where Kyle was standing as she reached out to touch the boy's warming cheek, "You've done so much for him that I owe you more than this. You know now that he's a changed person, _completely_, thanks to you." She gently took her hand off Kyle's cheek, gazing over at the tree as she continued, "That's why I worked overtime these past couple of weeks, I ended up making enough to double my Christmas budget," she smiled back over to Kyle, "So now both of you have the normal amount."

Kyle's eyes lit up drastically as Liane finished her statement, "Eric will be so thrilled!" he exclaimed, "Lord knows how much he loves this Holiday."

Hearing that response, Liane perked her brow in interest as she questioned down to the boy next to her, "How have you been enjoying it? I know he's been working so hard for you…"

Shrugging his shoulders, Kyle humbly responded while shoving his hands into his jacket pockets, "I've honestly been having a great time, but…" Kyle rolled his eyes in embarrassment as he bit his lower lip, "I've _really _been waiting for tomorrow."

"As everyone else is," Liane laughed, getting to the main reason why she stopped Kyle, "but Kyle, one more thing before you go upstairs…"

Kyle peered up to Liane questioningly as the woman inhaled a deep breath.

"Because Eric's grown so much these last couple of months," She began to explain, cautiously looking down at Kyle as she got to the point, "I decided to go out on a limb and buy him a very special present this year… do you mind, helping me with it tomorrow?"

Smiling up at her, Kyle's face brightened up as he assured, "Sure anything!" but his curiosity got the best of him as he then asked predictably, "What is it?"

Liane smiled contently, leaning into Kyle's ear as she whispered the answer.

* * *

**German-**

"JA! Es bringt mich nichts mehr auf die Palme, als Leute, die sich vordrängeln Eric!" – Yeah! My biggest pet peeve is when people cut lines Eric!

"Halt den Mund Gör! Ich bin nicht hier für dich." - Shut up, I'm not here for you…

"Fröhliche Weinachten." – Merry Christmas!

warme Brüder - Literally "Gay Guys", it's slang but... lol


	4. Epilogue: Christmas Morning

Epilogue – Christmas Morning (So much fluff that you'll **Explode**)

"Eric…"

A voice called out to Eric as he slowly drifted out of unconsciousness.

"ERIC!"

The voice called out louder, causing the larger boy to completely wake up from his sleep as he annoyingly rolled over to see where the voice was coming from.

Only to be met with Kyle's face staring intently into him as he whispered impatiently, "Is it time yet?"

This did not startle Eric, because he half expected this. Laughing to himself, he peered over to his alarm clock to check to see what time it was.

6:40

Growling in fake irritation, Eric face palmed as he groaned his response "Dear God Kyle, do you know the last time I woke up this early to do presents?"

"Last year?" Kyle guessed, anxious as all hell as he whined, "All those presents just WAITING for me downstairs, AND THAT'S NOT ALL! You don't even KNOW the surprise waiting for _you_." He tugged at Eric who was still waking up.

However that last statement did catch Eric's attention. So opening up one of his eyes to stare down Kyle intently, Eric kept his hand closing one of his eyes as he spoke up, "Whatchu talking about Kyle."

Folding his arms into his chest in a sassy stance, Kyle lifted his nose away from Eric as he puffed, "Well, you're just going to have to see for yourself!" he peered back down smug as all hell. Suddenly rocking from side to side as he quickly pounced off the bed, "**I can't fucking wait any longer!**" he exclaimed as he made his way to Eric's bedroom door.

"Now hold on!" Eric cried out, rubbing his other eye awake as he yawned, "We have to get my mother up first, and lord knows she's going to take a while to get up!"

"Well…" Kyle whined, looking to the door and then back to Eric, "Go get her up!"

"Jesus Christ Kyle, what are you? Two?" Eric bitched, groggily getting up from his bed to wake his mother.

"It's my first fucking Christmas Eric!" Kyle cried, slapping the side of the larger boy's head as he made his way to the door, "Don't you remember how excited you were?"

"Which is why I am not strangling you right now." Eric snapped, "Don't ruin Christmas for me Kyle, I am no morning person and as much as I freaking love Christmas… I hate mornings even more." He bitched, opening the door to walk down the hall towards his mother's room.

Impatiently waiting by the door, Kyle watched as Eric finally departed his mother's room, the barely-awake brunet trudging down the hall as he gave a passing smile, "She's up, we can go downstairs now."

"FUCK YEAH!" Kyle screamed as he proceeded to run down the hall, nearly toppling Eric over in his excitement.

Taking his first step down the flight of stairs, Kyle stopped suddenly when he took in what he was about to do. He was about to experience his first Christmas Morning. This realization hindered him somewhat as he reluctantly took an additional step, feeling his anxiousness get the best of him as he continued to stall his decent. It was so unreal, he didn't want to rush though it. It's like; he wished he could stay in this moment for a tad longer.

"Kyle," Eric called to him from the top of the stairs, "Would you like me to go down with you?" he slowly extended his hand towards the trembling redhead.

Kyle turned his head to see his lover gazing down at him from the top of the stairs, his loving stare piercing him as the mahogany wisps seemed to extract all of his anxieties in one quick instant.

Reciprocating Eric's inviting smile, Kyle took Eric's hand as they both slowly descended the stairs together- both bearing witness to the bright and magical room complete with a lit Christmas tree, plenty of presents, filled stockings, and to make it even more magical…

It was actually snowing outside, which wasn't uncommon in Colorado but still, having it actually snow on Christmas morning and not the night before or later that day was something to note.

"I can't believe it's actually happening." Kyle spoke up, taking in this sight as he rested his head against Eric's shoulder, "It's everything I ever wanted it to be."

"What are you talking about? We haven't even opened the presents yet!" Eric joked before ducking down to peck Kyle's temple as he carefully led the redhead into the room, "Come on Kyle, let's start with the stockings." He nodded towards the hanging sock shaped bags on the stair banisters directly to their left.

Once Liane got downstairs, Eric and Kyle were done with their stocking stuffers - mostly just school supplies with the occasional unexpected small sized-gift. Yet even a wrapped pencil titillated Kyle so as he unwrapped present after present, seemingly unending as they started to open the presents on the floor.

Yet as the presents disappeared to be replaced by heaps of crumpled up wrapping paper, Kyle looked over to his haul and marveled at how amazing his morning was. He thoroughly loved the collection of Xbox games, Blu-Ray disks, computer accessories, and even clothes that he received; let alone the two big gifts he got – the complete Rosetta Stone for German and the new iPhone. After hugging Liane in immense appreciation, Kyle walked over to Eric to give him his thanks as well.

"Thanks Eric," Kyle ducked down to nuzzle his lover as he fidgeted with his new laptop, "This morning has been more than I could have ever asked for!" he cheered, eying the selected background that Eric chose, an elaborate desktop cover of the Rosenrot single. Looking over to his Rosetta Stone compilation, Kyle snuggled in closer to Eric as he finished, "You know exactly what I wanted and thanks to you and your mom… god I'm so happy right now!" he looked over to Liane too, who smiled back with equal enthusiasm.

"It was no problem Kyle," Eric smirked, grasping at Kyle's hand intently as he leaned his head into his lover's fluffy red mane once he was done with his new computer's settings, "I'm really happy that Mom made this happen. I can tell that there's more here than what I anticipated, so you must have worked really hard for this." He praised, looking over to Liane as he smiled brightly with his head still resting against Kyle's - but with an ounce of disappointment still gracing his expression which only Liane could identify.

"Not as hard you both worked." She sipped her coffee, just waiting for Eric to make his predictable comment.

"However I have to say…" Eric finally got to what was initially bothering him, glancing over towards Kyle's two big presents as he commented, "Kyle got two big presents, his iPhone and his Rosetta Stone collection… but my laptop is the only thing that I can really identify as **big**." He carefully mentioned, not wanting to sound bratty but still perturbed.

Kyle slid his eyes in Liane's direction as she moved to do the same. Slowly nodding her head, Kyle closed his eyes as he replied, "That's because you haven't unwrapped all of your presents yet."

Unexpectedly hearing Kyle answer his question, Eric looked down at his lover in immense perplexity as he puffed in amusement, "Are you two in on something?"

Anxiously looking towards Liane again, Kyle waited for her word as she began to talk, "Eric, I want you to walk around the kitchen and tell me if you see anything different. Kyle, basement." She signaled to the redhead who quickly got to his feet as he rushed to beat Eric off of the ground.

However Eric was too confused to get up so suddenly, especially after the 'basement' comment. Certainly his mother wasn't in on any of his dirty little secrets to actually buy him anything for Kyle and his 'basement' play. There obviously was something else down there that they both were keeping secret from him. "Why can't I just go to the basement with Kyle?" he inquired curiously as he got up from the floor.

"He'll bring it up, but first you need to go to the kitchen and tell me what you find." She calmly instructed before taking another sip of her coffee, watching as Eric shot her a confused look on his way out of the foyer.

Looking into the kitchen, Eric looked around at the seemingly normal cooking environment as he took another step, "I don't see anything, what are you guys-"

Something was out of place but he didn't notice it right away since it really wasn't that out of place at all. Because at one point in his life, there _were _cat dishes positioned right next to the refrigerator but it's been years since they needed them.

And that's when he heard the basement door open and the subsequent "_Mew_!"

Whipping his head around to see what could have possibly made that noise other than what he knew in his heart to be a _**brand new little kitten**_…

_**Oh my god Kyle was holding small new orange baby kitten in his hands!**_

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! IT'S A KITTEN!" Eric practically squeed once he saw the bundle in Kyle hands, approaching it with extreme awe as Kyle calmly explained, "Eric, this is your new Kitty. She's a girl kitten, and she already has a name that she responds to."

Carefully reaching out to retrieve his most favorite present _ever_ from Kyle's arms, "Wha… what's her name!" he delicately took his precious baby thing into his own arms as she cutely wiggled in his hold.

Kyle smiled as he unbelievably revealed her name, "_Sassafras_." He chuckled slightly.

"Oh my Lord her name is Sassafras!" Eric pet her gently as she started to playfully nip at his arm, "She's my sassy kitty Sassafras!" he picked her up to hold her in front of his face, "_Do you like dat name_?" he spoke to her in a little kitty voice, "_Sassafras_?"

"_Meew_." She cried, obviously wanted to be put down.

"Awwww Sassafras wants me to let her go!" Eric whined, placing her back into his arms as Kyle watched on amused as all hell, but oddly enchanted by Eric's loving behavior towards this small little creature, "But I don't know where I should put you down! This is a big house! You need a small place to start off with!"

"Eric honey," his mother called from the other room, "If you look behind the recliner, you'll see the little place that Kyle and I made up for her last night."

Looking back down at Sassafras, Eric perked up ever so cheerfully as he cooed, "Does Sassafras wanna go to her little room? Okay_, Vati will take Sassafras to her wittle ruum_." He suddenly disappeared into the foyer, Kyle closing the basement door before following his lover back into the room.

Gently lowering his baby kitty into her little temporary home, Eric watched with huge starry eyes as he called down, "You precious baby 'fing, I nuv you so much already and I've only known you for all of two minutes!" he reached down to pet her purring face, Sassafras marking him with her scent as she rubbed the back of his hand.

"Vati loves you so," he cooed, watching on lovingly as his kitten curled up in a little ball to take a little cat nap.

Quietly approaching from behind, Eric sensed Kyle sit down next to him as he heard him ask, "Why are you calling yourself Vati?"

"Because she's my baby, and I love her." Eric answered naturally, calmingly running his finger down her back as she slept soundly.

However Kyle only saw Sassafras as a kitten and nothing more, so with an incredible amount of confusion he continued to pry, "So that makes you her father?"

"Who else would I be to her?" Eric responded, glancing sideways to Kyle as if that question was completely unnecessarily.

Seeing how confident Eric was in his answer, Kyle came to the conclusion that he just didn't know enough about pets to make calls about them, "Sorry… I've never had a pet before, I don't really understand."

"Well, take a good look at her Kyle," Eric gazed back to his baby kitten as he informed, "Because she's your first pet." He smiled back at Kyle as Sassafras grunted in her sleep.

"Huh?" Kyle looked down at the sleeping cat as he furrowed his brow in confusion, "No, she's _your_ present."

"I know that," Eric responded knowingly, nodding his head as he continued to smooth over his kitten's coat, mimicking a mother cat bathing her young as he continued, "but she's yours too. If I'm her Vati then you're obviously her other parent." He implied as he gave Kyle a content grin.

"…Eric I think you're taking this too far." Kyle commented in concern as he shrugged away from his significant other.

"Maybe, but remember the whole thing at the Christmas fair last night?" Eric nervously brought up, not knowing if it was too soon to ask but honestly dying to know, "Would it be too ridiculous for us to raise a kid Kyle?" he watched Kyle's face go white as he quickly tried to fix his statement, "I mean, obviously not for a _very very_ long time, but you know… one day?" he perked up again, Sassafras stretching herself as she moved to a new position where she wanted her Vati to 'clean' her.

Kyle could tell that Eric was absolutely serious about this question as he stared straight into his soul, but the way he bluntly brought it up last night only scared him if anything. But now, seeing how much he really did love this little kitten, Kyle felt somewhat confident in Eric's paternal instincts as he nodded to the little orange bundle of joy, "You're acting as though _she's _your baby."

"Because she is, _to me_." Eric reiterated, looking back to his baby as he added, "You'll be surprised at how much cats act like little people." He smiled again, remembering Mr. Kitty's mannerisms all too clear as he puffed, "I think after a while you'll warm up to her too, she obviously enjoyed it when you were holding her earlier." He glanced sideways at Kyle with a convinced expression on his face.

"You think?" Kyle perked up, gently carrying his hand over to the small kitten as he mimicked Eric's movements; Eric taking his own hand away as he left his fiancé to soothe their new baby.

"Absolutely!" he confirmed, placing his arm around Kyle's frame as he leaned in to whisper into his precious redhead's ear, "So how about it," he smiled, nuzzling his head against Kyle's as he asked, "Wanna be her other Daddy?"

Laughing over how weird that sounded, Kyle couldn't help but feel giddy as he felt Sassafras squirm under his hand as she exposed her small little tummy to the finger he was petting her with, "Vati and Daddy?" he glanced up at Eric to confirm their new names.

Taking Kyle's chin into his hand, Eric gently lined up his mouth with Kyle's as he hummed against his warm lips, "_Perfect_." He ended with a deep kiss as they both embraced by their new baby, by their Christmas tree, during their Christmas morning.

Inside their house which was covered with their Christmas snow.

In their world… which seemed all too peaceful on this day of days.

_Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night._

_

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AN: And Happy Holidays as well, sorry about the abundance of Christmas themes but it _was_ for a Christmas Secret Santa . As I said, this story is not really about religion more than its about the non-religious traditions that come with Christmas. I really believe that anyone of any religion should celebrate this Holiday, it's message is good and it's fun for the whole family… but I will admit I am COMPLETELY bias since Christmas is what I was raised on.

But oh god, could I get any fluffier? God, kittens do this to me, and I knew Eric needed one for Christmas… so sorry if I caused any of you to gag, or cry, or squee, or whatever. But don't worry, we get our brute back in the sequel, this was just a nice little break for him to enjoy some one on one time with Kyle… and their new baby kitten…. shoot me I squeed in my seat as I typed that.

Also - I'm looking into RPing again, and I'd LOVE to have a Kyle to RP with with me as Eric. If you're interested, message me!

And that's it! I'll see you all for the sequel as soon as I plan it out! -Laby


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